320 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [(J j 



I novr pass to consider Lis niiscellaneoas notes, following liis unuiber- 

 iing and omitting tbe last, which has been referred to in the beginning 

 -of this review. 



1. These statements are unreliable, being l>ased on what was seen 

 dnriug the time of year when fisheries are not carried on very exten 

 sively, and on unauthentic information given in reply to his questioning. 



2. In Iceland a distinction is made between the fishing season ])roi)er 

 and other seasons of the year. During the fishing season, which lasts 

 from March 1 to May 14, the fisheries are carried on witli fnll energy 

 and with all the bands that can be spared, numy ])eopie who live 

 inland leaving their homes to take i^art in the fisheries. During the 

 other portions of tlie year fishing is carried on only by a few persons 

 who are absolutely dependent on the sea for their living, or who occa- 

 sionally go fishing, often simply for the purpose of getting a few fiesh 

 fisli for their tables. The latter half of May and ,Iune the coast popula 

 tion is generally occni)ied in preparing klip-fish, digging j)eat, &c.; and 

 during June and Jnly many of them go farther inland to assist in the 

 hay harvest. Farming and fishing go hand in hand in Iceland to such 

 a degree that one must often give way to the other; and this is the 

 reason why the summer fisheries are not carried on more extensively. 



In most [)arts of Iceland the fishing season lasts two and one hal!" 

 months (but never later than May 14), and furnishes the greater portion 

 i)f tlie fish exported from Southland and the western fiords. Only of late 

 years liave then^ been considerable lisheries in the eastern fiords. Of the 

 ■entire <pnintity of fish exported from Iceland during the four years' 

 iperiod, J87(> to 1S7U, inclusive, 44.1) per cent came fioiu the south coast 

 •and the luixe Jiay; .iD.T per cent from the wt.'stern liords and 8na^- 

 fellsiu's; and 15.4 per cent from Northland and tlie eastern fiords. 

 Along the entir(>, south coast only large boats, with a crevv' of from 8 to 

 r_! men each,, are used during the fishing season. In the Faxe I5ay, 

 the Brede Bay, and the western fiords, besides the above-mentioned 

 boats there are also employed smaller boats, with a crew of <1 or 7 men 

 each ; but this is only done in exceptional cases, when the fish c(^me 

 close to the coast. For the summer fisheries small boats, with crews of 

 from :*> to men each, are used almost exclusively. During the fishing 

 season the codfish have ofieu to be (taught at a cunsideral)le distance 

 from the coast, sometimes as far as 2 or 3 D'.i.nish miles (!) to 14 English 

 miles], and even farther, as in the southern part of the J^'axe Bay, where 

 during summer I have oiten seen the fishermen go out as far as 4 Dan- 

 ish miles [about I'.l English miles]; but of course when the fish are 

 near tlie coast no one will think of going out any farther than is abso- 

 lutely necessary. 



3. As far as I ha^e been alile to learn, the food furnished to the Ice- 

 land lishermen is of good quality ami suificient in quantity. They 

 generally, but not always, have some brandy with them when they go 

 out to sea. ]S\)r should they be blamed for this when we take into 



